138 On the Formation of the Universe. 



would be about v, nearer the vertex. In the part H, those 

 points would obviously be reversed, so that somewhere be- 

 tween the parts J and H,they must coincide. What would hold 

 true of such a portion of the ring, would, in respect of gravi- 

 ty and velocity, be true of the whole. Planets formed at 

 the place where these points coincide, would move in circu- 

 lar orbits ; and the excentricities in the various orbits would 

 have a general proportion to their distance from the place 

 of coincidence. This is the case with the eccentricities 

 in the solar system. The cause of emission being much 

 more rapid and powerful in its operation, and the orbits 

 being larger in the upper than the lower series, the planeta- 

 ry wheel in the upper series, as was shown above, would 

 of course be the largest. 



Between the upper and the lower series of planets there 

 is a large space, where the quantity of matter thrown off 

 from the solar wheel must have been comparatively small. 

 Suppose that two distinct bodies were formed in the same 

 circle of this diminutive portion of the great belt, at opposite 

 sides of the circumference. Many such bodies of a smaller 

 size must of necessity be formed, and must proceed to meet 

 and combine with the one that commenced the formation, 

 and had acquired n superior influence above the rest. 

 Those which came in last would of course be the largest : 

 and it is perfectly reasonable to suppose, that the last of all 

 might be nearly equal to the principal one- The smaller 

 body in proportion to its inferiority to the larger one, would 

 have a tendency to strike it on its higher hemisphere, or the 

 one most distant from the solar wheel. If it should strike 

 the larger one so far up as to bound off from it, the smaller 

 one would obviously be thrown in a direction diverging from 

 its natural course, and from the solar wheel. If the smaller 

 body should strike the larger one on its posterior hemis- 

 phere, the original motion, or the motion which it had when 

 thrown off from the solar wheel, would be accelerated and 

 that of the larger one retarded. But if the smaller should 

 strike the larger one on its anterior hemisphere, the original 

 motion of the larger one would be accelerated, and that of 

 the smaller one retarded. This is evident from the fact, 

 that the force of percussion could not have so great an influ- 

 ence to accellerate or retard their motion, as the force of 

 their mutual attraction prior to percussion, or else they would 

 remain together. Here then we find three causes of eccen- 



